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Branford-Boase Longlist: Week 10

Somehow, I managed to miss last week’s Branford-Boase post.
I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but I’m blaming technical issues (with
my brain). Anyway, to make up for the oversight this weekend I have two posts.
Today I’m looking at The Disappeared and Tiger Thief, and then tomorrow I have
three more books to talk about.

The Disappeared by C.J. Harper

Jackson's life is perfect; he's top of his class, wants for nothing and is destined to be part of the Leadership that runs the country. But when a violent incident leaves Jackson badly beaten and his best friend dead, everything changes. Suddenly his teachers claim not to know him, his records are deleted...Jackson doesn't exist anymore. Dumped in an Academy, where teachers are kept in cages and being a good fighter is all that matters, Jackson realises that to survive he needs to adapt, and fast. And, as he learns the Academy's terrible secrets, Jackson discovers that his whole life has been based on lies; the Leadership is corrupt to the core and they're coming after him. But time is running out. Can Jackson destroy the man at the heart of it all before he makes Jackson disappear for good?

I enjoyed The
Disappeared. It has a good plot, which turns very sinister, and it is
exciting and tense. The surveillance society that Jackson lives in reminded me
of George Orwell’s 1984, and his situation made me think about some of Kafka’s
stories. The main action of the book takes place within an institution, which
is purportedly a school. Unfortunately the main lesson learnt in it is
violence.

Jackson is super bright academically and doesn’t fit into
his new environment at all. He tends to talk too much and it takes him a while
to realise he doesn’t know everything. At times he really irritated me, I just
wanted him to shut up and listen rather than talking at the other young people.
But, there’s no doubt that he uses his education for the good of others, and
for that I can’t help but admire him.

I liked the big climactic scene at the end, and the sense
that there is much more to come was confirmed when I looked for a sequel – The Wilderness came out this March. I
can imagine the book as a film; I think there are some images that would
translate powerfully into a movie.

Sharat and his majestic white tiger, Emira, are two halves of the same soul. The thought of being separated is unbearable. So when Emira mysteriously disappears in the middle of their circus act, Sharat is devastated. He's also determined to get her back, despite the force of the Empire being ranged against him. His journey will be perilous and revealing, and shot through with magic.

I thought Tiger Thief
was pretty enjoyable too. The book itself is lovely; the embossed cover illustrations
are repeated inside the book too. I like the adventure/quest theme of the story
and it does get rather exciting as Sharat learns more about the secrets of the
City of Jewels.

The fantastical elements of the story are interesting,
especially the ghuls. Magic weaves around everything in the story. I liked the
descriptions of the circus at the beginning of the book too. Sharat is helped (and
hindered) in his quest to find his missing tiger, Emira, by some very
resourceful characters. Aya is brilliant, and without her he’d be lost.

I did occasionally feel that the plot took a while to move
forward and I’m not sure that the story is complete yet. I imagine a sequel is planned.

The story of Lizzie Borden has a whiff of folklore about it, it feels hazy to me, apocryphal perhaps, something half known and uncertain like Washington and the cherry tree or the ride of Paul Revere. Shamefully, I had to Google both the latter two examples to double check they were the events I thought I was referring to. I choose them deliberately though - is it my Englishness that makes these events fuzzy to me? Do these stories live in the American psyche the way Magna Carta, Henry VIII and his six wives, and Jack the Ripper (to select three almost at random) live in mine?
I remember a book we stocked when I was a very young bookseller at Waterstones in Watford that looked at the psychology of children who murder their parents. The copy on the back of the book talked of Lizzie Borden. I remember half wondering about the case, then shelving the book away and moving onto the next armful. But it stuck in my m…

My nieces and nephews and I have a monthly book club, called Book Chase (although it sometimes gains an extra 's' to become Book Chasse). The rules are simple: we all bring something we've read during the last month, talk about it to each other, and eat snacks. We live tweet each meeting with the hashtag BookChase. Sometimes, when we remember, we Storify all the tweets too. This month, we remembered!